Date: 20 Apr 2003 15:31:34 -0700 From: joshbrusinnopsamail.com (Josh) Subject: Re: New 9-3's ?
It's kind of funny I'm also coming off of several years driving a 97 Contour SE with the manual v6. Loved it but blew a head gasket with under 50K miles and was told to bring it in and the nearest Ford dealer would look at it and at least see if it would warrant an out of warranty repair. Cool I thought since it is a major repair and I proceeded to drive it really slow, stopping often to keep it from overheating. When I got there the Ford dealership dude not only told me they would definitely charge me but denied even talking to me on the phone. I could go on but in a nutshell I had to keep my clergyman father at bay for the first time in recent memory. An afterward; In Chicago (as opposed to the Milwaukee dealership (story above)) I also had to suffer through sub-par service a two hour repair took 5 hours without a courtesy call, price gouging, etc. In otherwards ñ unfortunately consistent b.s. Now Ford may sometimes have maintenence requirements that go above and beyond the average car but I really like my Contour. It's comfy, fast, stiff, etc. and it was cheap when I got it. But when a Ford Dealership treats someone with a Ford the way I was treated I can say that they can give me 0% financing, knock 20% off their prices and swear to treat me better and I will still not only not purchase the product but go out of my way to explain WHY. It's not the "Fix Or Repair Daily" aspect, though it has a bit to do with it. Post head gasket repair it has never had the go it once had. But to put up with service that makes me feel like a complete sucker is not acceptable. I am looking at the Saab 9-3 and post test drive like the interior comfort-level more than the BMW, find the handling to be better than my Coutour, back seats more than big enough, only problem is a slight turbo-lag that I can learn to drive with. In short: looks better and isn't every other car like the Passat, despite knowing otherwise the A4 still screams Passat+$$, BMW may be the ultimate driving machine but I do have passengers and a wife that wants automatic and while the Volvo s60 looks great I find it almost too cramped inside and find the s80 to be plush to the point of soggy (in 10 years I'll like it). I would like to test that Caddy CTS but am sold on the Saab that's still $10K-ish cheaper. and 0% financing... thanks, sold.
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